Multiple Raptures? (Part 3 of 4)

The asserted differences consist of:

1. In the Rapture, believers meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes 4:17); in the Second Coming, Christ comes to the earth with His saints (Rev 19:14).

The Greek verb for “meet” is apantēsis, used when VIPs made a formal visit, and a welcoming party went out to meet and escort him back to their city or house. This word occurs three times in the NT, the other two being:

1. Mt 25:6 But at midnight, there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.
2. Acts 28:15 And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. And when Paul saw them, he thanked God, and took courage.

In Mt 25, the wise virgins were ready and returned to the wedding feast with the bridegroom. In Acts 28, the brethren came from neighboring towns to accompany Paul to Rome. So, my interpretation of 1 Thes 4:17 is those believers went to meet the Lord in the air, then returned with Him to earth. It was one single event, not two separate incidents.

2. The Rapture is before the Tribulation (1 Thes 5:9; Rev 3:10); the Second Coming is after (Rev 17-18).

First, what do the passages say?

• 1 Thes 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
• Rev 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
• Rev 17-18 Please refer to the Bible.

Pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and pre-wrath supporters claim that “not destined us for wrath” and “keep you from the hour of testing” imply that believers will be removed or raptured before the tribulation or wrath. That is one possible assumption. Another interpretation is that God will keep believers safe even as they go through tribulations all around them, as when the Lord made a distinction between Israel and Egypt during the ten plagues (Ex 8:22, 9:4, 26, 10:23, 12:13). The latter is God’s pattern, not the former. Throughout biblical and church history, God protected and delivered His people, not by removing them from the scene, but as they underwent trials.

• The Rapture is God delivering believers from the earth (1 Thes 4:13-17, 5:9); the Second Coming is God taking away unbelievers to judgment (Mt 13:41-42, 24:40-41, Rev 19:20-21). I will cite only those Rapture verses not already quoted above. The Second Coming passages are listed in full.

• 1 Thes 4:13-15 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this, we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
• Mt 13:41-42 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• Mt 24:40-41 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
• Rev 19:20-21 And the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

The Second Coming verses indicate God judging unbelievers, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, but do they prove that it is separate from the Rapture? My answer is NO. The difference in focus is easily explained by the respective context. In 1 Thes 4, Paul was comforting the Thessalonian Christians who thought the dead in Christ had missed the resurrection and were grieving over them. So, his emphasis was on explaining the sequence of the Rapture, not the details of Christ’s return. In Mt 13, 24, and Rev 19, Matthew and John were describing the end times and final judgment, so the focus was on the Lord judging the unbelievers.

What I find surprising, however, is that supporters of the separate incidents missed “the sign of the Son of Man.” As I have demonstrated, this can be none other than resurrection. In other words, the resurrection and rapture of Christians take place when Christ returns to judge the world, and the two are simply two sides of the same event!

(To be continued)

Be Angry and Do Not Sin (2 of 2)

(Continued from yesterday)

Yesterday we looked at grammar, today we examine the context and theology of the text.

Context
The paragraph starts with “therefore” in 4:25, which links the verses following to the principle preceding. Paul taught the Ephesians the principle of putting off the old self (4:22) and putting on the new self (4:24). The verses following named 7 areas in which this principle is to be applied:
1. old – falsehood (9th commandment) vs. new – truth (4:25);
2. old – anger (6th commandment Mt 6:22) vs. new – letting go (4:26);
3. old – steal (8th commandment) vs. new – work, share (4:28);
4. old – unwholesome word vs. new – edification (4:29);
5. old – bitterness, wrath, anger (6th), clamor, slander (9th commandment) vs. new – kind, tender-hearted, forgiving (4:31-32);
6. old – immorality, impurity (7th), greed (10th commandment) vs. new – what’s proper (5:3);
7. old – filthiness, silly talk, coarse jesting vs. new – giving of thanks (5:4).
Note that the structure of the seven pairs is always putting off something bad first, then putting on something good. Secondly, except for 4 and 7 concerning talk, the other 5 all deal with the 6th to the 10th commandments.

Theology
Is anger always wrong? Not necessarily, because anger or wrath is God’s response towards ungodliness and unrighteousness (Rom 1:18), as God’s nature is diametrically opposite to sin. Jesus drove out the money-changers and dove merchants from the temple (Mt 21:12; Mk 11:15; Jn 2:15). He looked at the Pharisees with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart (Mk 3:5). He had righteous indignation, but He did not sin (Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 Jn 3:5). So anger in and of itself is not wrong, it depends on the motive.

How did God manifest His anger? Did He take action immediately so as not to let the sun go down on His wrath, or did He delay judgment? In Jesus’ examples cited, He acted right away, because that was the right time. In the Father’s case in OT history, He delayed until the fullness of time (Ga 4:4). Rom 3:25 This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed. So in God’s case judgment need not be immediate to avoid the sun setting on His wrath.

Having said that, Jas 1:19-20 says:
• But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
While man can and do follow God’s example by being angry with unrighteousness, in general man’s anger is sinful and do not achieve God’s purpose.

Opinion
You interpreted “be angry” as an imperative, having a righteous indignation against unrighteousness. This avoids the apparent contradiction with v 31, which commands we put away all wrath and anger. Theologically you can separate anger from sin, so this is a possible interpretation, though I think not likely in view of the context.

The structure of the passage consists of a principle followed by 7 applications. Putting aside 4:26 for the moment, the framework of all the other 6 follow an “eliminate the negative, cultivate the positive” pattern, with the negative behavior being what’s prohibited in the second half of the 10 commandments. While 4:26 could go against the pattern and be a positive command to have righteous indignation, the evidence on “angry” being negative is stronger. This is especially in view of v 27, “do not give the devil an opportunity”. Had righteous indignation been the intended meaning, it would not have given the devil an opportunity. However, if negative anger was meant, it most certainly would. So based on the context I believe the traditional interpretation is the correct one. The alternative is possible but unlikely. Hope this helps.

Be Angry and Do Not Sin (1 of 2)

Q. What’s your comment on my un-traditional interpretation of Eph 4:26 “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”
Normally, most people would say when you get angry, do not sin and don’t get angry for too long. When I read the whole passage and especially verse 31 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice,” Paul was asking us to get rid of anger in this verse. So it sounds like it would be contradictory to verse 26 (getting angry is Okay as long as we don’t sin and not for too long).

I compared a few English translations, most say “Be angry” instead of “when you are angry”. It seems like the NET translation makes more sense.
“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. Do not give the devil an opportunity.”

My interpretation would be: We should be angry on unrighteousness AND do not sin. When you see unrighteousness, deal with it right away and don’t wait until sunset.

A. You have an interesting interpretation. I will give you my opinion after an analysis of the grammar, context, and theology of this verse.

Grammar
Eph 4:26 is a quotation from Ps 4:4 in the Septuagint (LXX), which in the
NASB says, “Tremble, and do not sin;” The footnotes besides “tremble” & “and” say “with anger or fear” and “or but”. In other words, “be angry, but do not sin”.

If you check Eph 4:26 in an interlinear NT you will find a word-for-word equivalence as follows:
ὀργίζεσθε BE ANGRY
καὶ AND
μὴ DO NOT
ἁμαρτάνετε SIN
ὁ the
ἥλιος sun
μὴ do not
ἐπιδυέτω let go down
ἐπὶ on
τῷ .
παροργισμῷ anger
ὑμῶν your

Translators struggled over how to translate this verse. The challenge is in the verb ” ὀργίζεσθε “, second person, plural, present tense, middle voice. Should it be in the imperative mood, as a command, or in the indicative mood, as a statement?

Most word-for-word (literal) translations took it as an imperative and simply rearranged the words so that they flow smoothly in English:
ESV: Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
HCSB: Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger,
NASB: BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
NKJV: “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

However, thought-for-thought (dynamic equivalence) versions like the NIV took it in the indicative sense:
NIV: “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Based on grammar alone, both are possible translations. Neither can be ruled out.

(To be continued)

Principles of Judgment

Mini-series on Rom 1-5 continued:

Q. In the Last Judgment, how will God judge people? What criteria will He use? Wouldn’t He favor His chosen people?

A. There are 9 principles of judgment given in the first half of Rom 2:

• v2 God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
• v3 do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
• v5 storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed
• v6 God will repay each person according to what they have done.
• v11 For God does not show favoritism.
• v13 those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
• v16 God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

1. Based on truth. In earthly courts there are wrong judgments because they are based on evidences which might be faulty, and witnesses who might lie. They also depend on the rhetoric of the lawyers, not necessarily truth. But there will be no wrong judgments before God, because God is omniscient and knows all truth.

2. No escape. Nobody is exempt – unbelievers before the Great White Throne, and believers before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Rom 14:10, 12 For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

3. Cumulative. Not only will no one escape, everything will be accounted for. The unrepentant will be storing up wrath against themselves. What now seemed like God overlooking things is only apparent. All will be reckoned with.

4. According to what was done. This one everyone recognized as fair. Everybody is responsible for what he/she has done, not what others accuse them of, or mere intentions.

5. No favoritism. In this world there is bias, discrimination, inequality, nepotism, unfairness. But not when God judges. God is impartial and favors no one. He is absolutely fair.

6. Based on obedience. Some complain that God is not fair by selecting Israel as the chosen people. They certainly had the privilege of hearing God’s law. However, it is not those who hear, but those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Knowing the law will not benefit you, but will in fact increase your penalty if you knowingly disobey.

7. No secrets. People keep secrets because they feel ashamed of who they really are, or what they have done. However, according to the parable of the sheep and the goats, the general judgment will be public, not private. There will be no place to hide.

8. Through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself, whom many have rejected, will be the judge. Jn 5:22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son.

9. According to the gospel. Although judgment is according to what was done, to show that all fell short of the glory of God, no one will be declared righteous on their own merit, because all have sinned (Rom 3:23). Only those who believe in Christ will be saved. Jn 3:38 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

When you truly understand how God will judge, the only wise response is to cast yourself at God’s feet and beg for mercy. Not to do so is utter arrogance and foolishness. Think it through and act accordingly.